Escaping from work early on Friday we beat some of the traffic (but not much…) from Waconia to the 7 Corners area near the University of Minnesota. This area was to be our base of operations this fine but hot summer evening.
Our first show was at the Rarig Thrust theater, one of the largest venues at the Fringe, and just one of 4 different theater spaces in the Rarig building. We ended up seeing Fotis Canyon, a one man storytelling show by Fringe favorite comedian Mike Fotis. I've loved his humor and spontaneity in the past, so we always try to get to his shows early in the festival so we don't miss them. This year's show was a little less wacky than some of his works, but was also much more introspective and rewarding. This is a well known comedian starting out with humorous but realistic stories of his past, but moves toward a surprisingly emotional and heartfelt end. This is the best thing Fotis has done in my opinion!
From the raring we booked it over to the Southern Theater to see a terribly named show called Marie-Jeanne Valet Who Defeated La Bete du Gevaudan. Both my wife and I put this on our question-mark lists, but went ahead and took a chance since the timing worked. We were both very pleasantly surprised with the result. A moody quasi-historic tale of a giant wolf terrorizing a famine-ridden town in France, this had some very good acting, especially from the two main characters. There were a few areas of silliness that I think detracted a bit from the overall vibe, but the show was well worth the time.
Our final show of the night (because we are weak and actually take time out to have dinners) was at the Mixed Blood Theater. Real Dead Ghosts was a very well acted show featuring a couple staying in a dark cabin in the woods. The emotion in this piece was impressive and both actors did an impressive job of getting me emotionally invested in such a short time. One of the best shows I've seen so far this Fringe!
From here we had a very late night dinner at Town Hall Brewery, and of course a great couple of beers! That Citra Mania is wonderful!
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